Odds & Ends

Wildlife officials have removed all mirrors from the toilets at the National Arboretum in Gloucestershire because birds there have been attacking their own reflections. Apparently territorial birds have been flying into the bathrooms at the Arboretum in the town of Westonbirt, only to spot their own reflection and start fighting with it. “The mirrors have been removed due to swallows entering the toilet block and thinking that they have a rival in the mirror,” a posted bulletin now reads. Paul Cody, head of visitor attraction at Westonbirt, told the Western Daily Press there are at least five nests near the bathrooms and that the mirrors will remain gone until October in order to “prevent the resident swallows from injuring or causing unnecessary stress to themselves.”

Dateline: England

Police throughout Northern England report that criminal gangs are stealing powerful LED headlights from luxury vehicles to grow cannabis. Police have been investigating a spate of thefts that have left Land Rovers and Range Rovers without their lights. The expensive lights are then sold off to drug dealers for use in marijuana factories. A special task force in West Yorkshire has already made 14 arrests of headlight thieves. It is believed that Land Rovers and Range Rovers are specifically targeted because experienced thieves can remove the headlight assemblies in as little as 60 seconds.

Dateline: Japan

The moon may be getting its first advertising, courtesy of Japanese drink-manufacturer Otsuka. The company plans to send a specialized titanium can weighing about 2.2 pounds on the first planned private moon-landing mission. The Falcon 9 rocket—designed by the Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX corporation—is scheduled to land on the moon in October 2015. Otsuka’s miniature, cylindrical billboard—dubbed a “dream capsule”—will be filled with Pocari Sweat powder, an Asian sports drink that creates a citrus-flavored beverage when combined with water. In a press release the company said it “hopes that one day youths interested in space will live out their dreams, collect the dream capsule, and drink the Pocari Sweat mixed with the water found on the moon.”

Dateline: Washington

Police in Seattle are searching for a man they suspect stole a toilet tank from a Subway restaurant while sandwich artists prepared his family’s meal. The man entered a Subway shop in West Seattle with his family on the night of Sunday, May 11. After placing his order, the man entered the restroom, where he remained for a long period of time. The man’s wife even knocked on the door to ask why he was taking so long. When the man eventually came out of the bathroom, he hurriedly exited the store carrying a large plastic bag. An employee later discovered the toilet’s tank was missing. Also, the sink was stuffed with paper towels, and the bathroom key was missing. The fast food franchise has valued the toilet tank at $550. Witnesses at the scene provided a description of the man, and police are actively searching for him.

Dateline: Oregon

A Washington County man recently dialed 911 to ask where he could purchase some marijuana. Audio of the non-emergency was released on the dispatch center’s Facebook page as part of a “You called 911 for that?!” campaign. “This is one of the many examples of what you shouldn’t be calling 911 for,” the agency wrote. After the caller asked “Where can I buy some marijuana this morning?” he was informed that he was speaking to the police department. “That’s very interesting,” said the caller. “Well, let me ask you the same question.” He told the dispatcher he thought it was “a legitimate question.” Police were sent to check on the man after the dispatcher told him she did not know how to answer his question.

Dateline: North Carolina

According to the Gaston Gazette, Bevalente Michette Hall, 37, of Gastonia dialed 911 on the night of May 8 to inform police she got the wrong sauce on her Subway “flatizza.” According to police, the woman called 911 to say her pizza-esque dinner contained marinara sauce instead of pizza sauce. “It’s terrible, and I got a receipt,” Hall told dispatchers. “I told them I can’t eat that kind of sauce.” In the call, Hall said she wanted to make an official report so she could call investigators at WSOC-TV Action 9. Hall was arrested for misuse of the 911 system. She spent three minutes in jail before being released on a $2,000 bond. And, yes, marinara and pizza sauce are the same thing.